flickjohnson

Hi Everyone,

Like everyone we have to think of every element of our lifestyle before we decide whether to make the 'big move' and one thing we are worried about is ...... how does everyone cope with being so isolated? In regards to holidays, visiting other countries. At the moment, we can just hop over the channel and explore Europe. New Zealand seems to be the answer to so many of our questions but it is such a big move!

Wooly_Cow

Kiwi's do travel a lot despite the distances. I guess that they save more for the holidays. However there is a lot to see in New Zealand so a lot of new Kiwi's settle for exploring the North and South islands for the first few years.

alanmacc

or you can come here, jump on a plane and explore OZ or the pacific islands .....

Wiz'n'Ton

It's certainly something to consider. If you are used to regular overseas holidays, then a move to NZ closes down some of the variety that living in Europe can offer. Fiji, Rarotonga, The Cook Islands and Aussie are all popular with Kiwi's. However after you've 'done' them, then any further afield starts costing some serious wedge.

So far we've settled for exploring NZ and have loved it, though we occasionally feel the frustration of not being able to 'nip to Barcelona for a long weekend' like we used to do when the 20 quid flight deals came up on Easyjet.

bdclayton

We need a Easy Jet / Ryan Air and other cheap airlines here
and Aldi for shopping
We have had a few Ryan Air £1 flight to Europe that have been fantastic value

Jan n Neil

I never thought i would say this but i would kill for a decent Aldi here

We need some decent competition

Neil

irnbru14

Honestly, for my first 18 months or so it wasn;t really an issue for me, but now, especially in the long winter months, it can get a bit depressing. The problem are, IMHO:

1) I've now done most of NZ, most of it more than once, and getting to the places I would want to go back to, such as flights to Queenstown, are so expensive to do it prices out of going down South for only a few days.

2) Welly is great, but to get out of town (other than flying) you can head up the Kapiti Coast, over to the Wairarapa, up towards Napier or Ferry to the South Island, have done all the daytrips to death now!

3) Aussie is 3 and a half hour flight away, and 2 hours time difference, and still not what you'd call cheap, so you need a good long weekend at least to even do a trip to Sydney or Melbourne justice and to make it worthwhile.

4) Lack of holidays, means that you don't have the days to spread across the year as you may have been used to in the UK, 20 days hols and I need to take half of them at Christmas as the office shuts down...

Its fine for a while, there is so much in NZ to see and do, but if you fancy a proper change of scenery it is expensive and a long way off compared to the UK with Europe on your doorstep, 3.5 hours gets you to Aussie, think of all the places you could fly to from the UK in that time...

I've just been back to the UK at Christmas and it accentuated just how much I took for granted having everything on my doorstep and a choice of airlines kept the price down.

It's still a fab place to live, but yes it can feel isolated down here at the bottom of the world.

crap coffee

I am not a big fan of travel, so it's possible to live here otherwise I'd be irritable. Luckily my family is living here too, so don't have to visit the UK on a regular bases unless I really want to. It's very expensive to travel Europe once you start earning Kiwi wages.

have lived here for a long time, and I know there is so much in NZ to see but no desire to go and explore..any further..(haven't even been to Queenstown) just am not interested in nz scenary.

please don't move to nz, if you love traveling Europe & America. Its just too far. toooooooo far. Even if you have lots of money, no, never enough time. It takes three days to get there, and another three days to come back here. Just wasting life. I mean it.

bloody isolation is a bad thing. and you'd become a small minded Kiwi eventually and not intelligent enough. I would never raise my kids here.

hazeandsteve

I think it depends on your company.
Me and Haze are were just as happy to go to bach on the east cape as we were to go to Oz, the Oktoberfest, Canada, Tenerife etal.
The place doesn't make the trip, and there is such a variety of places here that we've still not felt like we're missing out.
When i was working in Basel, we took a road trip to Monte Carlo, and boxing day Wanganui was more fun because every bugger speaks the lingo!
With Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Raro, Hawaii, Oz all pretty much the same flight time as going to see her sis inTenerife every year (except Hawaii, but it's a nice thought), I think we've got better choice here.

Justcol

I REALLY miss my trips to the continent.
I used to tour there on my bike with never a set destination.
When you travel around NZ EVERY town looks exactly the same.
If you like history, architecture and culture you'll find more on
the moon than down here.

irnbru14

Variety of places is the issue I guess, from Edinburgh I could be in a vast array of different places within an hour or so, in NZ it never quite feels like that, and even Aussie is sometimes just like a bit bigger (and warmer) NZ when you go, even though I love Sydney and Melbourne as places to go for a long weekend or whatever, it doesn't feel vastly different to NZ.

Genesis

Apart from the crap driving and poor housing stock its got to be the next biggest day to day problem for most of us aye? It is one of the downsides to living in what for our family is somewhere close to where we have always wanted to be. as they say life is full of compromises. For me I came here at 45 and had done quite a bit of roving in my time and with 3 small kids was ready to settle down. Frankly I am so content here generally I don't feel the need to go anywhere!! In 5 years I have not even been to the South Island. Having 3 VERY young kids who scream as we leave the close "are we there yet?????" has much to do with that issue!! I fully expect and want my kids to go off and do their europe thing and who knows they may decide to stay? Isolation is a big issue for some.

NZ is apparently the remotest western civilisation on earth. That say something doesn't it? The only way you know if it will work for you is to do it. For us whilst NZ like anywhere has manifold issues the trick is to make sure the good point far outweigh the bad.

dannigirl

I'm sorry I can't let this go unanswered...ignorant people raise ignorant children!

There are lots of British people who have never travelled overseas or if they do it is to little Britain in Spain. They are not interested in architecture, different culture or new experiences, they just want the next fry up and binge drinking extravaganza.

My dad does not not earn lots of money in NZ, but he saves like mad and has been over four times to see me in the 8 years I have been here. Each time he goes a different route (which makes the flights quite expensive)....last time he came over via Osaka and back via KL, he will do San Fran and somewhere else next time. He has been all over Europe, America and Asia and is a typical kiwi talking to bus drivers, train drivers, waiters and random people everywhere!!!!!

It reflects more on you as person to generalise abouthe intelligence of an entire nation...obviously you aren't that intelligent because you haven't managed to get yourself out of there yet.

dannigirl

Sorry to have digressed on my previous post....travel is something to take into consideration. I have just been talking to my sis, she is a bit cynical that I will settle back in NZ....the biggest thing for me is that now we have a child we don't have the money, time or inclination to do the lovely weekend trips abroad.....but we have the option which is quite nice I guess. What I like best is the guaranteed sun you can count on for your summer holiday when going abroad here.

It will totally depend on your personal situation, whether you have kids or not, whether you have a mortgage or not, where you live and what type of job you have.....it will depend on your disposable income and if you choose to spend that disposable income on travelling. I would say if you do lots of trips to Europe every year then NZ might become a bit samey. South Island and North Island are two very different islands, and it will take you a few lengthy holidays to get to see everywhere. As other's have said Tonga, Samoa etc are close by, South East Asia a bit further away but very doable. However, there is nothing like Europe....that is unfortunately a 30+ hour flight away!

crap coffee

Thanks tho.

yeah. you are intelligent. and I am not. You are right, and I am wrong. ok?

just don't want to go all the detailes. it's just my simple, silly or small minded views of my life in nz. feel too lazy to explain everything here. I don't bother.

btw, how do you know? I went to school here. my view is different to yours, obviously.